Cloud Dance Festival: Trouble & Desire
Yuyu Rau, Hana Saotome, Slanjayvah Danza, Hyanglae Jin, Hurst and Griffiths, Scarlett Perdeau, Mavin Khoo
Pleasance Theatre, London
28 March 2010

If you are in the mood for a dance adventure, look no further than the Cloud Dance Festival. Three times a year, this unfunded venture is like a breath of fresh air – instead of the now common triple bills, you get seven to eight pieces a night, and no fewer than twenty over a weekend. As a consequence, they are short, usually to the point, and at the end of the day it hardly matters who will make it in the industry and who won’t – as a demonstration of the diversity of places a love for dance can take you, the last performance of the Trouble & Desire edition was again utterly heartwarming.

The evening started with an aptly named introduction, Beauty Unveiled. Japanese drawings on two long strips of fabric hanging from the ceiling set the tone, complemented by the slow, flowing upper body torsions of the first part. Four dancers, two in white and two in black, represent the Yin and Yang – their different styles and backgrounds create the contrast needed, and the interchangeability of roles, with a woman partnering the sole male dancer of the cast, adds mystery to this fluid world. Unfortunately, Beauty Unveiled then seems to lose its path, hampered by a disjointed structure and the lack of development in Yuyu Rau’s choreography. The four dancers, depicting random associations and emotions, seemed more and more subdued as time went by – a shame, as their singularity gave its strength to the duality of the work.

A solo devised and choreographed by Hana Saotome, Low Blue Flame, followed. It is a fascinating variation around the idea of something ‘hot despite its smallness and calmness’ – and as Saotome entered the stage, lighting small blue lamps one after the other, it became clear she would embody just that flame. At once strong and supple, she has a rare upper body decisiveness, and uses it to quietly sculpt the air around her. As a collaboration with musician A. Lorenzo, it is also a success – the electronic soundtrack only adds to the idea of something sizzling beyond the surface of Low Blue Flame. I only wish the intensity of the piece was more modulated over the time it lasts – its effects would be enhanced by more contrast. (…)

» Read the full review in Ballet.co Magazine, as well as on the website of the Cloud Dance Festival

And also on Bella Figura: don’t forget the interviews from the last edition of the festival!

• Jenni Wren (Slanjayvah Danza), who returned in Blind Passion
• Lucía Piquero, back as a dancer in Mavin Khoo’s Amour
• Melody Squire (Sol Dans)
• Ji Park (Flexa Dance Theatre)
• Abi Mortimer (Lîla Dance)